Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm, formerly known as Blizzard DOTA and Blizzard All-Stars, is a MOBA game originally created by Blizzard as a free to play custom map for Starcraft II, before evolving into it's own standalone game to eventually be released as part of the ever growing "Arcade" service in Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, before eventually getting delayed beyond the release of Heart of the Swarm and getting rebranded as a stand-alone title again. Heroes of the Storm involves characters from all three of Blizzard's major franchises- Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo, battling for control of lanes in teams to eventually destroy the opposing team's tower. Playable Characters * Abathur * Alarak * Anub'arak * Artanis * Arthas Menethil * Auriel * Azmodan, Lord of Sin * The Butcher * Brightwing * Cassia the Amazon * Chen Stormstout * Cho'Gall * Chromie * Dehaka * Diablo * D.Va * Elite Tauren Chieftain * Falstead Wildhammer * Gazlowe * Genji Shimada * Gul'dan * Greymane * Illidan Stormrage * Jaina Proudmoore * Jim Raynor * Johana the Crusader * Kael'thas Sunstrider * Kharazim the Monk * Leoric, the Skeleton King * Li Li Stormstout * Li-Ming the Wizard * The Lost Vikings: Erik the Swift, Baleog the Fierce and Olaf the Stout * Lt. Morales * Lúcio * Lunara * Malfurion Stormrage * Medivh * Muradin Bronzebeard * Murky * Nazeebo the Witch Doctor * Nova Terra * Probius * Ragnaros * Rehgar Earthfury * Rexxar * Samuro * Sarah Kerrigan (Infected) * Sergeant Hammer * Sonya the Barbarian * Stitches * Sylvanas Windrunner * Tassadar * Thrall * Tracer * Tychus Findlay * Tyrael * Tyrande Whisperwind * Uther the Lightbringer * Valeera Sanquinar * Valla the Demon Hunter * Varian Wrynn * Xul the Necromancer * Zagara * Zarya * Zeratul * Zul'jin Datamined from Alpha, current status unknown * Cenarius * Fenix * Lady Vashj * Kel'Thuzad * Maiev Shadowsong * Mekkatorque * Zul'jin Gameplay Heroes of the Storm superficially resembles it's DOTA ancestors, but the actual gameplay has significantly deviated from the formula. Statistics have been streamlined tremendously, allowing players to quickly get into the games without being required to read hours of information about builds in order to be effective. Various other forms of simplification are in place as well- Last Hitting has been removed from the game entirely, removing the concept of kill-stealing and rewarding team players equally. This has an added side effect of making characters focused on non-combat roles more effective and no longer punishes the player for choosing to play support. Overall, this increases overall team-play. Another important major change from the DOTA formula is that the areas outside of the lanes is now just as important as the lanes themselves. Within these "no man's lands" are numerous new concepts such as bosses and Mercenary Camps which change the balance of power in the game. Mercenary Camps require a hero to fight and defeat the Ogres guarding the camp to capture control of it- impressed with the Hero's combat skill, the Mercenaries join the player's lane, and are much more powerful than traditional units in the lane. Multiple Mercenary Camps can be taken by players, which will allow their soldiers to curbstomp towers and defenders with ease, but the Mercenary Camps are still vulnerable after being taken, and the opposing team can recapture them to stop the Ogres or gain them to join their team instead. Also out in the maps are massive bosses, such as the Stone Zealot. These bosses can do massive damage and have a huge amount of health, requiring a whole team of heroes an extended period of time to bring down- leaving their lanes open while they do. There is a bonus to defeating these bosses though; first they heal themselves and all the players to full upon defeat, then they turn to join the Lane. Due to their massive damage and health, they easily obliterate towers and can destroy bases with ease, forcing the opposing team to band together to fight and defeat the boss quickly or they could wind up losing the match quickly. Category:Games Category:Blizzard Category:MOBA Category:DLC Category:Digital Releases Category:PC Releases Category:Crossovers